How to Check PC Power Consumption in Windows 10 or 11

To measure how much electricity your PC actually draws, connect it through a compatible plug-in power meter or a smart plug that specifically supports energy monitoring. Read watts (W) for current power and kilowatt-hours (kWh) for energy used over time. This works with Windows 10 and Windows 11 because the measurement happens outside Windows.

Windows itself can’t show the total watts your desktop pulls from the wall. Task Manager shows which apps use the most energy, and powercfg /energy flags efficiency problems. The table below matches each method to the question it answers.

Choose What You Need to Measure

Measure PC Power at the Outlet

1. Check the meter’s manual. Use equipment made for your country’s outlet and voltage, with a load rating suitable for the PC. A smart plug needs energy monitoring; an ordinary remote-control plug may show no watts or kWh.
2. Save work and shut down before reconnecting. Connect the meter to the wall outlet and the PC’s power cable to the meter, following its instructions. No PC-case or power-supply disassembly is needed.
3. Turn on the PC and select watts. Use the meter’s W display or the plug’s power page. For example, TP-Link describes Current Power as the connected appliance’s instantaneous consumption. Labels and refresh intervals depend on the model.
4. Record representative readings. Note power when the desktop has settled, then during your usual work or game. Keep the workload and attached equipment consistent when comparing changes; a momentary peak is not a daily average.
5. Measure energy over time. If the device records kWh, note its starting total and time. After a typical session or day, subtract the starting total from the ending total. Follow its manual if you prefer to reset a session counter.

What Is Included in the Reading?

A separately plugged-in monitor is outside a meter connected only to the PC. For a laptop, a meter on its charger measures the charger’s input, including battery charging, rather than only the work the laptop is doing. Record battery level and charging state when comparing sessions.

If the meter feeds a power strip with several devices, the reading covers all of them. Cheap meters can also be less accurate at very low loads, so treat a reading of 0 or 1 W during sleep as approximate.

Estimate the Electricity Cost

Multiply the measured energy in kWh by your electricity price per kWh. For example, an illustrative reading of 1.2 kWh × $0.20/kWh = $0.24. Use your actual rate; fixed charges and a variable tariff can make the total bill calculation different.

With only an average watt reading, use watts ÷ 1,000 × hours = kWh. An assumed average of 150 W for eight hours equals 1.2 kWh. That example is a calculation, not a measured result for your computer.

Find Busy Apps With Task Manager

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc. In Windows 10, choose More details if the compact window appears, then open Processes. Right-click a column heading to enable Power usage and Power usage trend when available.

Those columns belong to Processes, not Performance. Microsoft’s introduction of the feature explains that it uses CPU, GPU, and disk activity to assess process energy impact. A High rating is not a watt value you can put into an electricity-cost formula.

Windows 11 Task Manager has the same Power usage and Power usage trend columns on the Processes page. On a Windows 11 laptop, also open Settings > System > Power & battery > Battery usage to see which apps used the most battery over the last 24 hours or 7 days. Both views show relative usage, not watts. If an app you don’t need ranks high, close it normally and check again; avoid ending unfamiliar system processes.

Generate an Energy-Efficiency Report

For an efficiency investigation, save your work, close open programs and documents, and leave the PC idle. Open Start, search for Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator. Enter:

powercfg /energy

Let the default 60-second analysis finish. Note the output file’s full path, then open that HTML report in your browser; copy it to a normal folder if the browser cannot open it at the reported location. Microsoft’s powercfg documentation describes this as a check for common efficiency and battery-life problems.

Read the reported issue and its context before changing settings. This command does not provide a substitute for an outlet meter. A laptop’s powercfg /batteryreport serves another purpose: see our battery-health guide for capacity and usage information.

Why Don’t the Numbers Agree?

• CPU or GPU sensor readings: a supported component’s reported power is not automatically the total entering the PC. Do not add overlapping sensor labels and assume they form a measured wall total.
• Power-supply rating: a 650 W label describes rated capacity, not constant electricity consumption. Our power-supply identification guide covers that separate task.
• Different sessions: updates, gaming, charging, and attached devices can change the result. Compare similar conditions and use a time-based energy total for cost estimates.

Matthew Burleigh

Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.

Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are checked step by step against the device or app maker’s own documentation and tested on his own devices whenever he has the hardware or software, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.

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